Turkish Green Beans

I get a lot of my stuff from charity shops. Clothes mostly, trinkets occasionally, and every now and then I find a real gem, like a breadmaker for eight quid, or the tome of the aspiring cook, The Cookery Year (My gran has one, my mum and my aunt have one each, and now I’ve got my own. Everything you ever need to know is in here), or, wrenching this sentence back to the point, this: http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Turkish-Ingredients-Techniques-Traditions/dp/1846811767. Ghillie Basan’s The Complete Book of Turkish Cooking.

I’ve been to Turkey three times now, and I love the culture inordinately – a bizarre combination of insanely crowded streets and utterly tranquil little scenes, of old men drinking tea and playing backgammon while little kids run screaming and laughing around them. Most of all, I love the food. Most Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cultures have a tradition of meze, lots of little dishes meant to refresh, comfort and inspire – a far cry from stodgy Western European foods meant  to fill and warm the farm workers – but the Turkish really do it properly. Partly that has to do with the melting-pot nature of the country, and partly to do with the fact that Turkish food combines the peasant and the prince – the kitchens of the Sultans were famed all over the medieval world.

Before I wax too lyrical, I’ll give you a recipe for green beans in olive oil and tomatoes, a particular favourite of mine, and do nothing more than urge you to find your nearest Turkish restaurant (they do exist) and tucking into ten or twelve plates of meze with friends and family. It’s quite a dining experience. Turkish cuisine is also very good for vegetarians and vegans, not because they particularly recognise those preferences, but because they think of vegetables and pulses as the star of the show in their own right, not an accompaniment to meat.

Ingredients:

1 large handful green beans or runner beans, topped and tailed.

1 medium onion, halved lengthways and finely sliced.

1 large garlic clove, finely sliced.

1 tsp sugar

juice of half a lemon

1 tin chopped tomatoes

olive oil

Method:

Gently soften the onion and garlic in about three tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy based frying pan over a low heat. When the onion is translucent, halve the beans (or chop them into three or four pieces) and add to the pan, coating them in the oil. Allow to cook for a few minutes, then sprinkle over the sugar and lemon juice. Add the tomatoes, season liberally with salt and pepper, and bring to the boil. Let the sauce simmer for about half an hour until it’s nice and thick, then taste and add more sugar or lemon juice according to taste. They ought to be just a little sharp and crunchy.

Eat these as an accompaniment to chops or sausages, or better yet, on their own with some flat breads or pitta.

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